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Sonntag, 30. Juni 2013

The undefinable fish fragment

I have a very strange piece of a fish in my collection. It was a necklace pendant and I bought it by an indigene market stand. I was fascinated by this tiny piece, because I thought it was from a sawfish. Ha, far wrong! I know now how a sawfish looks like, but from what fish was my pendant then? Read the conclusion under the cut, you will be surprised!

Let’s have a closer look to the little hooks - they look like tiny teeth. So I though it must be a barb of a stingray. But I still wasn’t sure, because the little teeth are irregular and the whole thing wasn’t straight like stingray barbs usually tend to be. I was at my wits’ end so I started to ask at various museums. One of them didn’t know it either, another one didn’t write me back and the third museum told me that it was a stingray barb. But I didn’t believe it…

If you want a job done, do it by yourself! I surfed a long time through the endless vasts of the internet and finally I got my answer! My undefinable fish fragment is a fin spine of a catfish! Who was thinking about a catfish at all?
Catfish belong to the bony fish and a lot of them have dorsal fin and pectoral fin spines. These fishes need the spines for protecting themselves against predators. Next to these spines are venom glands, which will cause a burning sensation so it’s very painful – ouch! Some fishermen know what I’m talking about. If you manage to get a catfish spine into your hand or foot you won’t pull it out so easily, because of the irregular hooks. It’s better to go to the hospital.
I don't know if such a spine will grow back once it's lost.

Some tribes tend to use these spines for spearheads. But in my case they used it for making jewellery. What a nice find!PS: Other fishes can have fin spines as well, carps for example.

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About me

Hi there, I’m Psy. My passion next to drawing or doing handicraft work is mother nature. I love it to be outdoors in a forest, exploring some ponds or just strolling around the lake. Sometimes I find bones, beautiful flowers or interesting animals and that’s the topic of this blog. My mother tongue is German but I will try to write each entry in English, that’s a good exercise for me. So, I hope you enjoy my blog!